Man Overboard
by hyperpsychomaniac
Summary: The pirates are forced to abandon Mahad in a heavily damaged Hyperion. And the Sphere is close on his tail...
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: **Anyway, this is a fic I wrote awhile back. Decided it was about time I started posting it on fanfictionnet. The whole thing is the longest Skyland fic I've written, but hopefully it's exciting enough to keep people interested. Please review, and concrit/spork/praise/flame. Any of those will make me squee.

* * *

**Man Overboard**

Mahad jumped into the pilot seat of the Hyperion and fired up the engines. The six Sphere ships that had happened upon the Saint Nazaire whizzed past close, strafing the ship with weapons fire. Seconds later the Hyperion was on their tail.

"Mahad, you'd better not let them do that again!" Cortes' voice came over the radio.

Mahad rolled his eyes. He obviously hadn't gotten to his ship quickly enough for Cortes' liking. "Don't worry, I've got them."

Two of the Sphere ships peeled off from ahead, and pulled back to flank him.

Mahad saw them, but kept the Hyperion on course, firing a few blasts at one of the ships in front of him. The patroller rocked from the impact and swerved. He'd damaged it.

The ship to his left fell back in line with him and then opened fire.

Mahad knew it was coming. He pulled the Hyperion into a spinning dive. "Whooo!!"

The Sphere patroller on his right took the hit in its engine before exploding.

The four undamaged ships turned around, taking advantage of the Hyperion having to pull itself back up to the battle.

They were intercepted by the Mosquitoes. A brief flurry of weapons fire ensued as both sides tried to get the other to back down. Eventually they both peeled off, avoiding a head on collision, but the Sphere ships were forced to move away from the Saint Nazaire.

Mahad pulled back up to their level. It was his turn to play chicken. "Yeah, you can't touch me!" he yelled as he twisted the Hyperion from side to side, dodging the blasts and firing off some of his own. One hit a patroller head on. Its demise wasn't as spectacular as the last; it simply jittered and fell from the sky. Mahad didn't bother to peel off, instead threading the Hyperion between two of the enemy's ships.

The Mosquitoes passed him, chasing the Sphere ships. Mahad looped the Hyperion back around to follow them.

"Yeah! Three ships down, three to go!" said Cheng, bouncing as he watched his screen's readout.

"Good," Cortes growled.

Cheng threw a glance at Lena. Cortes wasn't happy about the Saint Nazaire taking a few hits. It would most likely only need minor repairs, but that didn't stop him being mad about it.

Cheng looked back at his screen. Then frowned. Another blip had appeared on the radar. And it looked big. Really big.

"Someone go back and take that damaged patroller down! You're ignoring it like it…"

"Cortes!"

Cortes spun around at Cheng's voice. He knew that tone well enough to know Cheng needed his attention, and now. "What?"

"There's a huge ship on the radar and its coming this way. I think it's the Monolith, nothing else is that big!"

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"I don't know!"

"Right, we can't stay here. Dahlia, get the Saint Nazaire ready to move, and quickly."

"Right away, captain…" Dahlia replied from the forward console. She hit a few buttons and the engines started to whine.

Cortes radioed the Mosquitoes and Hyperion. "Everyone finish what you're doing and pull back. We're leaving now!"

He was answered by a few 'yes sir's' and one 'What? Why?'

"Mahad, return to the Saint Nazaire, that's an order."

"We can take these guys!"

"They're not who we're worried about. Dock the Hyperion and quickly."

Mahad sighed. "Yes, sir." Some more Sphere ships had appeared, no doubt. He could understand not wanting to let the Saint Nazaire get too damaged, but he could take care of a couple more Sphere ships. And Cortes knew that, so there had to be something bigger…

The Hyperion rocked from an impact and Mahad's thoughts were dragged back to reality. "Damn!" He'd known where the three remaining Sphere ships were. Knew one had been damaged by the Mosquitoes and couldn't fire anymore. Knew that the other two had been chased off to a safe enough distance for the Mosquitoes to return quickly to the Saint Nazaire and let the bigger ship leave with minimum damage. He'd just been distracted by Cortes, and had forgotten the first ship he'd damaged, the one that sat half a kilometre away, listing slightly to the side, but with still fully functioning weapons.

----

"Commander Oslo, we have a slight problem."

"What is it, Diwan?" Oslo asked the holographic projection of his second in command. He sounded annoyed, and he was. Earlier, the Monolith had travelled all the way to a remote, abandoned Sphere outpost. An old ship-yard. But it was more than that. There, they had made and tested new ship prototypes. The original rebellion had forced the Sphere to abandon it, and Oslo had hoped that returning to it now, they would have been able to retrieve some of the plans of those ships. Some had been quite impressive. Instead, they had found that all the computer systems had been wiped. All that was left were a couple prototype ship simulators, some broken machinery and a few rusted engines. None of these were of any use. Oslo was not a happy man.

"There was a squadron of our patrollers out here. We've picked them up on our radar, but they are… disappearing. There is also one large unidentified ship. It released some smaller ships a few minutes ago. That's when ours started vanishing."

"Pirates…" Oslo growled.

"I suggest we teach them not to mess with the Sphere."

"Wait… what if they're the ones that have Lena? If she dies, I will be unable to rule Skyland. Not to the full extent I should anyway." Oslo paused for a moment, thinking. "Change our course to intercept them. And have a squadron ready to pursue them should they choose to flee."

"Yes, Commander."

----

Mahad gripped his control stick tightly and tried to wrestle the Hyperion back under control. An alarm on his controls started to blare.

"Come on, I know it's damaged!" he growled, pulling harder on the control stick. The Hyperion rocked to the left and Mahad pulled the other way, managing to steady it a little more. It gave him the chance to look at his console. One of his engines had been hit. He was lucky it hadn't exploded, but it meant he had little control over the ship.

"Mahad, are you alright?" said Cortes over the radio.

"One of my engines is damaged! I've hardly got any control."

"Can you still dock the Hyperion? We have to get out of here."

"I…" the Hyperion pulled hard to the left again. Mahad grabbed the control stick and tried to wrestle control. "Not unless you want a new window in the Saint Nazaire!"

----

"Is Mahad alright?" Lena asked.

"He's fine, for now…" Cortes answered, trying to think.

"Cortes, all the Mosquitoes are now on board," said Wayan over the radio.

"Good. Get yourself up to the bridge, Wayan. We might need you."

"Cortes!" said Cheng, looking at his screen. "The Monolith, it's picked up speed and it's heading directly for us! It can get here in minutes, we have to leave!"

"We can't leave Mahad!" Lena shouted at him.

Cortes opened a channel to Mahad again. "Mahad, I want you to try and dock the Hyperion."

"It's too damaged! I'll rip up the docking clamps!"

"Just give it a shot. And hurry."

"Okay, I'm coming in…"

----

Mahad lined up the Hyperion as best he could, then headed down to land. That's when he realised that any attempt to reduce the speed of the Hyperion would send it into an uncontrollable spin.

"Mahad, slow down!"

"I'm slowing down as much as I can!" He cut the engine speed down to almost nothing. The Hyperion was still going too fast. He'd have to risk a small reverse thrust. But surely he could handle that?

He fired the engines and gripped the control stick as the Hyperion tried to pull itself into a spin. He stopped the spin but the Hyperion hit the docking clamps, off by almost forty-five degrees.

----

Dahlia threw a hand in front of her face as the Hyperion swung in front of her window, only metres away. The Saint Nazaire shuddered from the impact. When she looked again, the Hyperion was spinning away from the ship and the dock was bouncing up and down on its suspension.

"Mahad!" Lena yelled from behind her.

"Damn…" said Cortes. "Cheng, how long until the Monolith gets here?"

"A few minutes, but it can start firing in about thirty seconds."

"Dahlia… start the Saint Nazaire moving."

The screen next to Cortes suddenly came alive.

"Unidentified ship," it was Oslo, "halt and prepare to be boarded."

"Sorry, we're a little busy," he replied, and cut the connection.

Lena at least had the sense to wait until Oslo wouldn't be able to hear her. "Cortes, what about Mahad? We can't leave him! The Sphere will kill him!"

"We're not leaving him. Dahlia, line up the Saint Nazaire with the Hyperion. If it can't slow down, we'll have to speed up."

"On it."

Wayan arrived on the bridge then. "What's going on?"

"The Hyperion's damaged! Mahad's not on board yet!"

"Wayan," Cortes cut in, "man the rear gun turret. We've got the Monolith and likely quite a few more patrollers on our tail."

"Yes, sir."

"They're sending patrollers after us now!" said Cheng.

"How many?"

"Twelve at least."

"Mahad," Cortes opened a channel again. "We're coming up beside you, try and dock again."

"Okay… I'll give it another shot…"

"Patrollers are opening fire!" shouted Cheng.

----

"Diwan, I want that pirate ship stopped, but not destroyed, understood?"

"Yes, commander."

"And that other ship looks an awful lot like the Hyperion. Don't destroy that either, just in case Lena's on it. I want it boarded and searched as well."

----

Cortes couldn't risk another second. "Dahlia, full speed, i _now /i _."

The Saint Nazaire shot forward. The blasts from the Sphere ships passed behind them.

"Cortes, what's going on?" Mahad's voice came over the radio. "You're going too fast! The Hyperion's damaged it can't keep up!"

"Mahad, we can't afford to slow down. I want you to find the closest block that's big enough to land on. Land the Hyperion and then I want you to leave it and hide. Don't go doing anything stupid if the Sphere comes after you. We'll come back and pick you up – when we can. Understood?"

There was a slight pause on the other end. "Yeah, alright I can do that. See you in awhile." The radio clicked off.

"We can't leave him!" protested Lena again.

"He can look after himself," Cortes replied.

"Against that many Brigs and Sphere ships and the Monolith?!"

"Most of those are after us. We can't afford to let them catch this ship."

"They don't want this ship! They want me! If you let them have me, you can go pick up Mahad…"

"That isn't an option!" Cortes growled.

The Saint Nazaire rocked as a blast went past close to port.

"The patrollers are gaining on us…" said Cheng.

"You can't…"

"Lena! We don't have time for this. Either stop wasting my time, or get off the bridge!"

Lena was quiet.

"Now, does anybody have any ideas about losing these guys?"

"Um…" said Cheng, half glancing at Lena, and then down at his screen, "well… there's heaps of small blocks floating around about twenty kilometres away. Some are as big as the Saint Nazaire and some larger ones. If we take the Saint Nazaire in there we might be able to confuse the Sphere's radar. If we can get behind a larger block long enough they'll lose visual and won't be able to tell which blip is us."

"Good. Dahlia, take us to those blocks. Wayan, make sure those Sphere patrollers know to keep their distance." Cortes sat down in his captain's chair.

Everyone went about their orders, the silence only broken by a few blasts from Wayan's gun turret, fired at Sphere ships that had dared to creep up too close.

"Ah…" said Cheng after a moment, "Lena just left the bridge…"

"I know," Cortes replied. He'd heard her footsteps as she left. He thought for a moment. "Cheng… lock down the Mosquitoes. I don't want them leaving this ship without my say-so."

"Sure… but why?"

"Just in case."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n:** Sorry if I was a bit slow with the up-posting of this next chapter. Have been busy and when I went to post up a few days ago I was having problems with the site. But is working now, so enough of the excuses, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Reviews please :D

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The Hyperion shuddered under the uneven thrust from the engines and it was all Mahad could do to keep it steady. Being a brilliant pilot was all well and good, but a damaged ship was still almost impossible to fly. All he could do was make it hold its course. 

His console bleeped at him. Two Sphere patrollers were following him. They would have been a simple matter for him to take down any other day. Not today.

"Go away!" Mahad shouted at them uselessly. Any attempt he made at attacking them would throw him out of control. Instead, he put more power to his thrusters, increasing the Hyperion's speed. The ship shuddered even more.

The Sphere ships increased their speed as well.

Why couldn't he have destroyed that Sphere patroller after he'd first damaged it? No, he had to go after the ones that were faster, and heaps more fun to chase.

Mahad shook his head and cut off that thought. He had other things to worry about now. He'd have to get away from the Hyperion quickly, if he didn't want to get caught. Unless, he _did _ stay and fight. If there were just Brigs on the ships it would be no problem. But if there were any Seijins on them he probably had little chance with just his boomerang.

"I'm just going to have to make the best of this..." he said as the block loomed ahead of him. He angled the Hyperion down and dropped the power to the engines. He passed over the edge of the block, and there was suddenly earth ten feet below him.

Reverse thrust had been a bad idea last time, he'd just have to let the Hyperion slow down by itself. Problem was he was running out of block.

Mahad held the control stick tightly, keeping the Hyperion just off the ground. He could let it slow down just a little more… no he couldn't! He jerked the control stick downwards and the Hyperion contacted the earth with a grind of metal. The earth dampened the speed of the Hyperion suddenly, and Mahad was thrown hard against the console.

The ship skidded to a halt, dust and torn grass settling around it. Inside, Mahad remained slumped against the console, unmoving.

Overhead, the two Sphere ships slowed and then circled down.

----

Diwan was not in such a good mood herself. The squadron had lost the pirate ship in a mass of blocks. They'd scanned the area after they'd lost it initially. Still, there had been no sign. It hadn't vanished, no; it had been a planned tactic. Pirates were just too good at hiding. They'd attack a barely defended envoy, but run as soon as the big guns came in. It was cowardly, but it still annoyed her. Especially when she would have to explain to Oslo that she'd lost them.

Her console bleeped. It was a message from the two Sphere ships she'd sent after the damaged Hyperion. Apparently, Lena was not on board. Just a boy. If it was the Hyperion it was probably just the girl's brother. He was of no use.

She was about to issue the order to simply blast the ship into oblivion when the console bleeped again.

"Diwan, I see you are returning, but I see no pirate ship."

"The pirates escaped, commander. We lost them among some blocks."

"I see. What of the other ship? Is it the Hyperion?"

"I believe so. Lena isn't on board that either," Diwan admitted.

"Well, if it was the Hyperion, and she was not on it, then I think it is almost certain than Lena was around. Most likely on that pirate ship! Diwan, your incompetence may have lost her once again!"

Diwan thought quickly. It was true, she _had _ lost Lena far too many times, and who knew how many more Oslo would accept? "Wait! Her brother was on that ship."

"Of what use is him to me? Do you really believe the pirates would exchange someone as important as Lena for _him_?!"

"You misunderstand me. We don't have to exchange him for anyone. He will know where Lena is hiding out."

"And you think he would tell us this?"

"He would, if he didn't know he was."

Oslo paused. When he spoke again, the anger was gone from his voice, leaving just a note of curiosity. "Keep going…"

----

The Saint Nazaire pulled lazily into Puerto Angel, it's two 'wings' folding up as it slid into the dock.

Cortes sat in the captain's chair, staring out the forward window. They could hardly return for Mahad right after they'd just evaded the Sphere ships. They'd have to wait awhile before returning to find him. The most sensible course of action had been to return to Puerto Angel and get the few repairs that the Saint Nazaire would likely need before going back out, rather than hanging around pointlessly.

"Docking procedure is complete…" Dahlia said from her station.

"Good. I'll get the repairs for this organised. You're all dismissed," Cortes said, getting out of his chair.

He headed down to disembark, hoping that he could beat Lena off the ship. It was understandable why she was upset about leaving her brother, but she needed to understand that it had been necessary.

Lena obviously didn't want to be told that, however, as by the time he got down she was already off the ship and halfway across the docking bay.

"Lena!" he tried calling after her.

She heard him, because she started walking faster.

Cortes growled. He wouldn't have much chance of catching her up.

"You know…" Wayan said, walking off behind him, "you don't have to explain yourself to her."

"I know that, Wayan," he sighed, watching as Lena disappeared around the corner.

Lena heard Cortes calling her, but ignored him, getting out of the docking bay as quickly as possible. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be following her. She didn't want to talk to the captain at the moment. Or anyone. She just wanted to get away.

You just didn't leave people behind in a fight. You were supposed to stick together and you just couldn't leave them in a damaged ship with the Sphere on their tail. The Sphere cared nothing for her brother – or almost anyone for that matter. If they caught up with him they _would _ kill him. And even though Mahad was such a great pilot, Lena was finding it hard to believe he could fly the damaged Hyperion to safety.

She reached her and Mahad's house before she realised it. Up in her bedroom, she sat down on her bed. The sun was starting to go down, so she made a quick attempt to find Mahad's mind with her powers. She had no idea if she could reach him over that distance, but she tried anyway. She felt nothing. And before she could try again the sun had sunk below the horizon, leaving her in darkness.

----

Mahad groaned and opened his eyes. The blurred grey of the console met his eyes. "What happened…" He pushed himself up, holding a hand to the side of his head. "Whoa…" It didn't feel like he'd hit himself that hard, and he'd been knocked unconscious before. But he'd never felt this out of it.

"Ow… well, at least I didn't kill myself." He blinked again, and his head felt clearer. But he still was having trouble focusing properly and remembering what was going on. "Right… the Sphere!" He looked down at his console, but it showed no ships around.

He couldn't see any out the window either. He got up unsteadily, and tried to push it open. "Aw, it's stuck!" He gave it a shove, but that only served to make him dizzy again. He sat back in the chair, waiting for the world to stop spinning.

When everything came back into focus he looked at his console again. Even if he could get out of the Hyperion, he was still feeling too dizzy to make a decent run for it.

"Maybe… maybe I can get this thing off of the ground. I couldn't have damaged it that much." Mahad sighed. "Who am I kidding? I'm not going anywhere."

Despite that thought, he tried starting up the Hyperion anyway. It started, although the engines sounded a little funny. Yeah, that was the easy part, but could he get off the ground? Perhaps he should just wait around for the Saint Nazaire to return. Cortes had told him to leave the Hyperion if there were Sphere ships after him. Well, that's what Mahad assumed he had meant. What point was there in running if the Sphere had left him alone? He'd be easier to find, and he was having trouble leaving the ship anyway.

Suddenly, Mahad was no longer alone. A Sphere ship dropped into his field of vision, and the console blared out an alert. He sat up straight, watching as it spun around slowly to face him.

He couldn't stay; the Sphere ship would destroy him. He couldn't run. But he wasn't just going to let it take him down.

Ignoring the headache, he gripped his control stick. The Hyperion's engines whined and it lifted off the block. He pulled it up until it was pointed at the patroller, and then fired his weapons.

The patroller mustn't have been expecting the damaged ship to retaliate, because it made no attempt to move. The blast hit it in the side and it dropped the few feet down to the block.

"Yes! Got ya!"

His console blipped. The Sphere patroller was sending out a distress signal! If there were any others around, they'd come looking and he'd be toast.

"I can't wait around now…" he put more power to the engines. "Come on…" The Hyperion whined and shuddered a little but, surprisingly, it pulled up into the sky. It was still pulling a little to the left, but whatever problem there had been before seemed to be at least holding itself together. So long as he didn't run into anything he had to pull any fancy manoeuvres to get rid of, he might just be okay.

Cortes had said he'd come back, but as waiting was no longer an option, the best course of action would be to head back to Puerto Angel. He'd try radioing them once he was a little closer – at the moment any other Sphere ships might pick it up, and he wasn't a hundred percent sure he was close enough to contact them anyway.

Mahad pushed the throttle as far as he thought the Hyperion could handle it and shot away from the block. If he was fast enough, he'd be able to get away before any other Sphere ships even saw him. And the faster he got away, the faster he'd be close enough to radio in and let Lena know he was alright.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: **I wasn't motivated to write anything new tonight... so up goes another chapter of this. Enjoy. :)

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Lena opened her eyes. Sunlight was streaming in through her blinds, it must've been getting a little late in the morning. She couldn't remember when she'd finally fallen asleep the night before, but she did remember it had taken her awhile. 

She got up and went over to the window, opening the blinds. "Mahad, where are you?" She searched again with her mind, but she couldn't feel anything of her brother. He was either too far away, unconscious, or worse. Lena preferred not to think about that.

If she couldn't find him like this, however, perhaps there was some way she could convince Cortes to go get Mahad a little sooner. She'd been thinking about the whole scenario for hours the night before, trying to get to sleep. Lying awake in bed, unable to do anything, she had started to understand that Cortes had had a reason to leave Mahad. He couldn't let the Saint Nazaire be captured. The ship was Puerto Angel's, as well as the rebellion's, lifeline. If he'd let them get it, they could have even found the location of Puerto Angel from one of the ship's computers. It had been all the lives of those on Puerto Angel against Mahad's.

But Mahad was still in danger and she just couldn't sit around and do nothing. She could at least try to get things moving. But she wasn't sure whether she wanted to go talk to Cortes, or how she would. He'd yelled at her on the bridge, and then she'd run off on him yesterday. He'd been mad at her. And Cortes could get pretty angry. He was probably _still _ mad at her.

She thought about Mahad again. Every minute they waited to go get him the Sphere could be getting closer to where he was. Assuming they hadn't already. In the Hyperion he had been almost invincible – he certainly thought he was. But his ship was out of the equation. He was by himself. He needed her to at least try and do something, anything. Even if it was just facing Cortes in a foul mood.

She took a deep breath and went back to her bed, sat down, and started pulling her boots on. She'd go find Cortes. And at least see when they'd be able to go and get Mahad. That is, if she could work up the courage to talk to him.

----

Cortes was sitting at the bar in the tavern. Repairs on the Saint Nazaire had begun early in the morning and would probably be finished some time in the afternoon. He'd probably still be able to see the scorch marks on her hull however, even if no one else could.

After that, they'd have to start thinking about going back for Mahad. It would still be risky if the Sphere had thought to wait for them to come back. But if they went carefully, they'd most likely see the Sphere before they saw them. They needed to find Mahad as soon as possible. He could look after himself, sort of; it was possible he'd do something stupid. That aside, he'd still left him in a dangerous situation. If he hadn't gotten away from the Sphere fast enough it wouldn't really matter whether he did something stupid or not.

A part of him had wondered whether he could've held the Saint Nazaire's speed for just a moment longer. Mahad might have been able to dock the Hyperion and the Saint Nazaire could have possibly taken a few more blasts without much more damage. Just scorch marks. Perhaps he'd been too worried about scorch marks on the Saint Nazaire to risk a few seconds for Mahad.

Cortes blinked and shut down that thought as soon as it surfaced. That was not the reason and it would do no good thinking about it. He just wished he could have gotten Mahad safely back on board. But he hadn't and he couldn't change it now.

He was vaguely aware of the doors to the tavern opening and then closing again. He glanced across. Lena had just come in, looking a little nervous it seemed. Cortes turned his attention back to the bar. His previous attempt to talk to her hadn't worked, if she wanted to talk to him, it was best she decided to do it herself.

Sure enough, Lena eventually made her way over to him. "Cortes…"

Cortes tried to keep his response neutral. "What is it, Lena?"

Lena jumped slightly anyway. "Um… I think I need to talk to you, if you want. I mean… can we go outside? It's a little noisy in here."

"Sure."

Lena went out ahead of him, almost too quickly to follow. Cortes got up more slowly and followed her out the doors. She was a little way up the dock, out of everyone's way. He came and stood beside her, looking out over the docking bay.

"I know you're mad at me…" Lena said eventually.

"What?"

"And you probably should be, I mean, I was being distracting on the bridge…"

"Lena…"

"And I know you had to keep the Saint Nazaire safe and you didn't leave Mahad behind on purpose, but he's my brother! I can't lose him! That's why I got so upset, I just…"

"Lena! Would you just listen?!"

Lena was quiet and looked down at the ground.

Cortes sighed. That wasn't the tack to take. "I'm not mad at you. And I wasn't mad at you yesterday either."

"But… you yelled at me on the bridge…"

"Because you were being distracting and I needed you to be quiet."

"And getting off the ship?"

"It might surprise you, but I actually wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Oh…" Lena kept starting at the ground.

It was making Cortes uncomfortable. "Anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I, I don't know… I guess… when can we go get Mahad?"

"Repairs on the Saint Nazaire should finish sometime this afternoon. It's probably best to start off tomorrow morning."

"…ok…"

She was still looking down at the ground. And it was still making him nervous. "That not good enough for you?" It came out sharper than he meant it to.

"I just want Mahad back!" she blurted, glaring up at him. Then she turned and ran across the dock.

Cortes bit back yelling after her. It'd only do more damage. Instead he just watched her leave, letting the rage build up until he finally couldn't hold it in and had to slam his fist down on the railing beside him.

----

Mahad slammed his fists on his control panel. "Why aren't you working?!" The radio was totally busted. Sure, he could wait until he got back to Puerto Angel, it wouldn't stop him. But he didn't want to leave Lena waiting any longer than he had to.

The strange thing was he could think of no reason why the radio _should _ be busted. It was possible it had been shaken up when he'd crashed. But unlikely.

And that wasn't the only thing that was worrying him. The Hyperion wasn't flying right. He could feel it. And he didn't think it was because he'd just crashed. There was something about it that didn't feel like he was flying the Hyperion. He'd started noticing it as he'd begun to lose that dizzy feeling he'd had in his head. He'd started noticing that the ship wasn't as responsive as usual. One engine was damaged, of course, and that was probably why. He wouldn't have paid it anymore attention. But there was something familiar about how the damage was pulling the Hyperion ever so slightly off course. It reminded him of a simulation he'd had to do in pilot school. A boring simulation. But he remembered how the ship kept pulling away, and after having to do the simulation a few times he'd been able to predict when the program would decide to make the ship 'randomly' react to the damage. The Hyperion was doing that now.

Now the radio wouldn't work. And it should. Mahad slammed his fist on the panel again. Then stopped. "Something _isn't _right…" he finally admitted to himself out loud. He slowed the ship down and set it on autopilot, before trying to open the hatch again. It stayed stuck fast.

----

It took them most of the morning to get back to where they'd had to leave Mahad. That was mostly because they were going slowly and making sure there were no Sphere ships around.

There had been none.

That had made Cortes all the more cautious.

When they made it to the block Mahad had been supposed to land on, they still hadn't seen any.

"Alright, Dahlia, Wayan, set down the Saint Nazaire. But keep the engines running. The Sphere could still be around."

"I can't feel Mahad…" Lena said.

_ Perhaps that's why the Sphere's not here... _ Cortes thought. "We have to look anyway," he said instead. "Dahlia, come with me and we'll try find the Hyperion. Wayan, if any Sphere ships turn up get the Saint Nazaire out of here. Pick us up if you can."

"Understood."

"Lena… I want you to stay here and keep trying to find Mahad."

Lena nodded, but wouldn't quite make eye contact. "Okay… I'll try."

"Cheng, contact us if she finds him."

"Alright."

"Ready, captain," said Dahlia from his side.

Cortes nodded and they left the ship together.

Outside, they both paused, scanning the area with gun and laser bow. There was nothing of any threat, so they continued down the ramp.

"The block's longest this way," said Cortes, "if Mahad has any sense, he would've landed along here somewhere…" He started walking in the direction he had indicated.

Dahlia followed behind him. "Cortes… you really think he'll still be here?"

"We won't know unless we look…" he said, even though it was really a non-answer.

"I guess not."

They continued searching over the landscape, looking for any signs of the Hyperion or Mahad.

"We'll find him, sir," Dahlia finally said, unable to put up with the silence.

"You're sure of that?" Cortes snapped. "A minute ago you were asking if it was likely he's still here."

"Well… you didn't really answer me."

Cortes sighed. "I don't need you to tell me everything's going to be okay, Dahlia. In fact, I'd rather you didn't."

"I know. But I can't say anything else if I don't know exactly what's bothering you."

"Aside from not knowing if we're going to find Mahad or not?"

Dahlia just looked at him.

"Sometimes I just wish I could figure out how to talk to kids _without _ biting their heads off…" he growled, almost under his breath.

"Are we talking about Mahad?"

Cortes blinked. He hadn't meant to say that so loud. "We don't have time for this." He moved ahead of Dahlia.

Dahlia picked up her pace to keep up with him – and then nearly walked into his back when he stopped suddenly on top of the slight ridge they'd been walking over.

"Something crash landed here…"

Dahlia followed his gaze. There was a gouge in the landscape ahead of them, stretching across the block. She immediately chose to forget their previous conversation, instead concentrating on the task at hand. "It's wide enough to be the Hyperion."

Cortes nodded. "Keep your eyes open."

They both moved down the ridge, weapons ready, following the trail of kicked up dirt and grass.


	4. Chapter 4

By now, Mahad was sure that something wasn't right. The uneasy feeling he'd had had been growing and was now beyond his ability to ignore. The Hyperion wasn't flying like a ship. It was flying like a simulator. A simulator under a fairly complex, but standard damage program. Like one he'd flown back in school.

But that notion was absurd. How in Skyland could he have gotten inside a simulator? There was one way to find out if he was right.

"Come on, open…" Mahad tugged on the access panel on the front of the console. He'd taken it off a few times before, but there was a bit of a trick to it and he was having trouble remembering what it was.

"Just open!" He kicked the panel hard. A feat that was worth noting in such an enclosed space and one that sent Mahad sprawling over the edge of the chair behind him.

The access panel clattered to the floor.

"Ow…" grumbled Mahad from the floor, rubbing his head. He pulled himself up and saw the panel lying on the floor. "Oh… now you come off!" He crawled across and peered under the console. "Stupid sh…" Mahad trailed off. The components and wires inside were not those of a ship. "It _is _ a simulator?!" He wasn't just being paranoid. He knew what the insides of one looked like. The joy at being right faded quickly. "So what's going on…"

Mahad looked around the small space that up until a few minutes ago he'd thought was the cockpit of the Hyperion. "Hey! Anyone out there!? The game's up! Let me out of this thing!" He went back over to the hatch and banged on it. "Hey!" Someone had to have put him in here. It must've been the Sphere, but he could think of no reason why they wouldn't just kill him outright.

"I'm not stupid; I know what's going on!" He slammed the hatch again. The view of clouds and blocks crawling past fizzled, then cut out altogether, fading to black.

Mahad stepped back as the hatch opened upwards.

"Oh, I'm not so sure you do."

"Diwan! I knew it was the Sphere! What do you want with me?"

Diwan glared down at him. "You're hardly that important. Don't flatter yourself. You're only alive because you know where your sister is."

"Leave Lena alone!"

"Like I didn't expect _that _ response…"

Mahad glared back, and then changed tack. "Okay. How'd you get me here? And what's with the simulator?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you. We found you unconscious in your ship. We drugged you… brought you here…"

"You drugged me!?"

"We couldn't have you waking up, Mahad. It was critical that you thought you were still in your own ship. We found this simulator a few days ago. It was one specifically built to test the Hyperion prototype ship. Your ship obviously has improvements on its design, but it was close enough. And of course, yours was damaged. You see, you've recorded on that simulator the exact path you travelled. The one you thought would bring you back to wherever it is you _and _ Lena were hiding out."

"And you thought I'd just lead you too her? Too bad I know now, I'm not flying that thing anywhere, or telling you anything! I don't care what you do to me!"

Diwan raised an eyebrow. "Dangerous words. But we need do nothing to you. You may not lead us there, but you have left us a very nice heading programmed into the simulators autopilot. It's not as good as an exact location. But it will do."

Mahad looked down at his console. Then back at Diwan. He dove on the console.

Diwan activated her Seijin powers immediately, lifting Mahad up before he could get close. She lifted him out of the 'cockpit' and dumped him on the metal deck. "Don't even think about it…" she warned.

Mahad pushed himself back up, wincing slightly, and grabbed his boomerang from his back.

"I'm warning you…" Diwan growled.

"Or what? You'll kill me? I figure you were planning on doing that already." He raised his arm to throw the boomerang at the woman, but it was snatched from his grasp.

It floated away from him slowly and into Diwan's open hand. She looked at it dispassionately then threw it into the cockpit of the simulator. "Foolish boy. Seize him!"

Two Brigs marched up behind Mahad. He had nothing to fend them off with and couldn't do anything as they each grabbed one of his arms tightly. He struggled anyway.

"I'll let you live for now," said Diwan. "Just in case the co-ordinates you programmed into your autopilot were in anyway misleading."

"I'm not going to tell you anything!" Mahad growled, gritting his teeth and struggling against the Brigs.

"As I said, you've probably given us all the information we need. But it pays to be cautious. Besides, I think your sister will want to thank you for giving her the opportunity to finally attend Guardian School. Trust me, she'll love it."

"No!" Mahad shouted, kicking against the Brigs. "Even if you put her in Guardian School she'll never be like you!"

"Really? Pity that. But we'll give her a head start. When she gets here, she can watch her big brother die! Brigs! Throw him in that cargo transport simulator. Lock the door."

The Brigs started moving over to the metal box that was the simulator Diwan had indicated.

"You can wait in there until we retrieve the co-ordinates from this simulator. Then we'll go pay Lena a little visit."

"They… they're not the right co-ordinates! They're nowhere near where we're hiding!" The Brigs threw him to the floor of the larger simulator. He got back up and ran to the door, but it was slammed in his face. "Hey! Damn it!" He kicked the door hard, but the solid metal wouldn't budge. He stared at it, panting. He was stuck inside. And Diwan had the co-ordinates to Puerto Angel.

"I just gave the Sphere the location of Puerto Angel…" he stared at the metal under his hands and kicked the door again. Then turned around and slid down to the floor, putting his head in his hands.

----

"There's the Hyperion!" said Dahlia, pointing to the ship stuck in the dirt at the end of the skid mark.

She and Cortes picked up their pace. They reached the ship and Dahlia climbed up on the side of the engine.

Cortes stopped. Something in the dirt had caught his eye.

"He's not in the cockpit…" Dahlia said. She walked over to the access hatch in the top of the ship and pulled it open. "Mahad…"

Cortes activated his rifle. "Heads up, Dahlia."

Dahlia quickly slid off the ship, making herself much less of a target. "What is it? Mahad's not in the ship."

Cortes nodded to the dirt. "Brigs have been here."

Sure enough, the prints from their metal boots were clearly visible.

Cortes looked around carefully. Then shouted: "MAHAD!"

Dahlia jumped slightly and a flock of birds alighted from some nearby trees.

"I doubt the Sphere is still here," growled Cortes when nothing else moved. "And neither is Mahad."

----

Mahad looked up towards the front of the simulator he'd been thrown in. He wiped his sleeve across his eyes. "I can't just let the Sphere find Puerto Angel…" He didn't know what in Skyland he was supposed to do, but he had to do something. The Sphere would find Lena and take her to Guardian School. And they'd kill everyone on the block for harbouring her and the rest of the pirates.

He got up and walked to the front of the simulator, looking at the console. "How could I not tell it was a simulator?!" He'd flown in them for years of his life and he couldn't tell when he was in one and not a ship. But he never would've expected that sort of mistake to cost so much. And thinking like that wouldn't help now.

"How am I supposed to do anything from inside here!" he growled and slammed the console with his fists. It whined and sputtered, the power to it fluctuating, and then turned itself on.

"Yeah! That really helps!" Well, it was one thing he could do in here. Fly a simulator. But it wouldn't help.

Mahad sat down at the console anyway. It was a cargo ship. The things were boring to fly.

Then, Mahad had a thought. If this simulator _and _ the Hyperion simulator had the right function… "Main menu…" he said, slowly and clearly. The simulated view of a part of Skyland was overlaid by a text menu. Mahad grabbed the control stick, looking at the menu carefully. A grin played at the corner of his mouth. "Yes!"

He selected the option that would allow him to connect two simulators. He'd done it with Shoomday practically hundreds of times. Join up their two simulators so that they occupied the same program space and race or try and shoot each other down.

The image on the screen flickered to a different view of blocks. And a view of the Hyperion, looking slightly different than the real ship had turned out as. It was flying slowly along the path he'd programmed into the autopilot. It would be the simplest thing to take out, even with the limited weapons of the cargo ship.

Mahad aimed and fired.

The Hyperion exploded in his view. Now, if Diwan had yet to retrieve the coordinates…

Moments later, he heard a bang on the other side of the simulator's door and then it was thrown open.

"What did you do!?" Diwan screamed.

Mahad couldn't resist spinning his chair around slowly to face Diwan. "I take it you've discovered my evil plan?"

Diwan glared. "This is no game."

Mahad got up, dropping all pretence of making fun. "No, it's not. That's why I can't let you get the coordinates to Lena. See, when you destroy another simulated ship in a simulation it wipes all the programmed information that would be gone had the ship _really _ been destroyed. Perhaps you should've thought of that before you threw me in here."

Diwan stood glaring at Mahad. Then she finally spoke. "You're lucky that I'm willing to try anything to get Lena. If I weren't I'd kill you where you stand. But then, perhaps you'd wish I had." Diwan activated her powers and pulled Mahad towards her.

Mahad struggled, but could do nothing as Diwan dragged him out of the simulator. He tripped over the edge of the doorway, unable to control his momentum and continued to slide across the floor behind Diwan. He tried to look around to where she was taking him without ending up sliding in a position that could be more painful.

Diwan stopped underneath a wide shaft of sunlight that blazed through one of the large skylights in the complex. "Just thought I might need the extra power," she smirked at Mahad's confused glance towards the skylights.

Mahad gulped. "Whatever you plan on doing… I don't care. I told you before; I'm never going to tell you where Lena is."

"As much as you think you have the advantage of information in this situation, Mahad, you don't. You are simply the means by which we will get what we want. You have no control. If this works, it won't matter whether you tell me or not."

Mahad looked at her. "What…" But he was cut off as he felt something like a vice gripping around his chest and lifting him into the air.

----

"What do you mean he's not there?!" Lena practically shouted.

Cortes really, really didn't want to have to try explaining it. Having to tell a bunch of kids their parents and family were not coming back, after the original rebellion had been destroyed, had been more than enough for him. Even if it was twelve years ago. He hated it when he had to go through it again. It didn't help that he seemed to be pretty bad at it.

"He's not there, Lena. But the Sphere has been there. They must've taken him…"

"Then we have to go find out _where_!"

"And where do you suggest we start?"

She looked lost for a moment, and then leaned back against Cheng's console. "I don't know…"

Cheng glanced between her and Cortes sadly.

"Look, Lena, I'm sorry. But I can't think of what else we can do."

Lena looked up suddenly, staring straight ahead. "Mahad!"

"Lena…?" Cheng asked.

"I thought I felt…" She lost focus again and stared off into nowhere. "Mahad, no!"

Cortes grabbed her shoulders as she started tipping off balance. "What is it, Lena?"

"Mahad… someone's hurting him…" She looked up at Cortes. "We've got to go help him!"

"Do you know where he is?"

"I…"

"Cheng, bring up a map."

The display above Cheng's console flickered up a map of the immediate area.

"Lena, you need to show us where he is."

"He's…" Lena seemed to think. "I think it's that block…" she pointed to one off to the side of the screen. "I think… I'm not sure… we've got to help him, he's in pain… hang on, Mahad…" She lost consciousness and slipped to the floor.

Cortes grabbed her. "Wayan, Dahlia, set a course to that block. And keep an eye open for the Sphere."

----

Mahad wasn't sure what Diwan was doing to him exactly. But it felt like something was crushing his entire body. He wasn't sure how long she'd been doing it for either, because time seemed to have started to drag out and the only thing he could feel was the crushing grip she had on him. The grip that seemed to just get tighter until he could hardly breathe and he felt like his head would explode.

And as much he tried to fight it, it was getting to be more than he could handle. He just wanted her to stop. But he wasn't going to beg; he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He could barely even close his hands without pain shooting through them.

How much longer would she keep it up? He gasped as the pressure seemed to increase suddenly, and then he couldn't get any air back into his lungs. He just wanted her to stop.

Then he felt her brush against his mind. For moment, he thought she was going to try to find out the coordinates to Puerto Angel from his head. But he couldn't remember them exactly, and he tried not to think about it.

But it didn't seem like she was after the coordinates. Instead, he heard her talking to him. _Why don't you call for help, Mahad? If you do, I might consider stopping…  
_

He couldn't talk; he didn't have enough air in his lungs. _No _he thought. _Who's going to help me anyway. _

He must've thought that loud enough for her to hear, because he could feel her laughing. _Just shout it out, maybe someone will hear you. _

The pain increased again suddenly. Diwan must've been somehow convincing his mind that he was hurting more than he really was. Because it felt like it was impossible for him to physically take any more. But it still kept getting worse.

_ Please just stop… _But it felt like Diwan had left his mind, leaving him alone with the pain.

Mahad couldn't take it anymore. He tried to yell, as if that could somehow help. It came out as more of a whimper. And then suddenly he felt Lena. She was close to him, she could help him. _Lena... _ But she was just out of his reach. _Lena! _

Then she was gone and Mahad blacked out.

Diwan stopped the flow of energy and let Mahad drop the few feet to the floor.

He lay there shaking and trying to breathe. She wouldn't kill him just yet. She'd wait for Lena to arrive. It was a simple matter to make Lena come running, as Diwan was sure she would. All it had needed was her to pick up that Mahad was in danger. The human mind was far more inclined to reach out for help with a little incentive. And a bit of Diwan's own powers, to 'boost the signal' so to speak, had helped. She'd felt Lena pick up Mahad's distress, and had taken her own mind away at that very moment. Lena would've been too caught up with what was going on with her brother to feel her.

Now, all she had to do was wait for Lena to arrive. "Throw him back in the simulator," she ordered two of the Brigs.

They moved over and dragged the boy up off the floor. He didn't struggle against their grip this time.

Diwan watched them dragging him roughly away. Lena would've been on that pirate ship, and when she came to help her brother that ship would too. She was, of course, counting on their foolish sentimentality to make them come and save him. If they were wise, they would cut their losses and just leave Mahad as dead. But she knew they wouldn't. They would come. Then she would have Lena, and have destroyed an entire pirate ship and its crew on top of it. Commander Oslo would _have _ to be impressed with her.

Diwan pulled a radio out and began giving orders to the rest of her Brigs.

* * *

**A/n: **Yes, I was mean to Mahad. But it's so much fun! Blame Diwan. oO 


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: **Thanks everyone for the reviews so far. :D

* * *

"That's the block he's on!" said Lena. 

In front of the Saint Nazaire a large block was just floating into view. Almost every spare inch of room was covered in metal buildings and shipping docks; only a few areas of natural rock were visible.

"Cut the engines," Cortes commanded.

The Saint Nazaire slid to a stop.

"I'm not picking up any ships in the area…" said Dahlia from her station.

"That place looks like a maze," said Wayan, "There could be ships hiding in there and we wouldn't even pick them up."

"He's right," said Cheng when Cortes looked at him for confirmation. "Our sensors aren't penetrating very far through all that metal."

Cortes stared out the front window for a moment, eyeing the complex. "Are you sure this is where Mahad is, Lena?"

"… I'm sure. It's the only block in this area, isn't it?" She looked at Cheng and he nodded. "Then he has to be!"

"Alright. Take us in slowly."

"Yes sir," Dahlia replied, and Wayan nodded. The ship jerked slightly as the engines started and they began moving towards the block. Nothing moved from its surface as they approached.

Then two Sphere patrollers shot out towards them from a dock and opened fire.

"Evasive manoeuvrers!" Cortes yelled.

"On it," Dahlia replied. The Saint Nazaire was already swinging out of the line of fire, putting the patrollers behind them.

"Take those patrollers down, Wayan," Cortes ordered.

Wayan was already halfway to the rear gun turret, "Don't worry, I've got them." He was in the seat as he finished speaking and had the gun lined up.

The patrollers seemed to be making no attempt to stay out of range.

Wayan took the first one out with one shot.

The second patroller swung away to avoid the explosion, and then swung back in toward the Saint Nazaire, continuing to fire.

Wayan shot at it twice more.

The second shot hit its mark, causing the patroller to tumble over itself in the air until it too exploded.

"Got them, Cortes."

"Good."

"… I'm just not sure it should've been that easy."

Cortes looked at Wayan, and then seemed to think about that. "Dahlia… don't slow down. Let's swing past the block again and see if we can flush any more ships out."

"Yes, sir."

The move flushed out two more patrollers, before everything went quiet again. When those had been destroyed and nothing else emerged, Cortes eventually decided to dock the Saint Nazaire.

"Lena, if you can find anything else out about where Mahad is, get Cheng to contact us."

"Okay… just bring him back safe, please Cortes?"

"We'll bring him back, I promise. Dahlia, you're with me. Wayan, I need you to stay and look after the ship. Just in case anymore Sphere ships decide to turn up."

"Okay."

----

Inside the complex, Dahlia and Cortes walked down a corridor, looking around as they went.

"You think Mahad is really here?" Dahlia asked.

"We won't know…" Cortes started. "I hope so. We don't have anywhere else to look. I'm really hoping he is."

Dahlia sighed. "What reason do they have to keep him alive? I mean…" she trailed off and then growled at herself.

"If he's here we're going to find him," said Cortes, and powered up his rifle.

Up ahead of them, the corridor split into two separate paths and Cortes stopped.

"Should we split up?" suggested Dahlia. "We'll cover more ground."

"We will," Cortes agreed. "You take the left. And watch yourself."

"You know I will. I'll stay in contact." She started down the left path, holding her laser bow active, but loosely in her hand.

Cortes continued down the right hand corridor.

The place really did look like no one had been there for years. It was hardly the place the Sphere took their prisoners. That is, when they bothered to take them in the first place. Cortes realised he was going off of Lena's feelings and those alone. But at the moment they were the only thing he _could _ go off of. He'd left Mahad for a good reason, but that didn't mean he wouldn't do everything in his power to make sure they found him again.

----

Dahlia peered cautiously around the corner. The corridor in front of her was clear, and she stepped out, continuing carefully. Everywhere seemed deserted of anything but disused pieces of machinery. She had yet to see any sign of the Sphere. Well, any recent signs. The place had obviously been an old ship yard or something of theirs.

There was a heavy clank of metal from in front of her and she stopped, readying her laser bow.

The clanking continued steadily. Then stopped. Dahlia moved forward slowly, carefully making her way to the doorway in front of her.

The corridor opened onto a thin metal railing. On the other side it looked like it opened further into a larger room, on the level below. That was where the clanking was coming from.

Dahlia eased her way to the door. There was nothing on her level. She crept out onto the metal balcony, and leaned slowly over the railing, ready to pull back if anything was likely to see her.

She caught sight of a Brig, and drew back against the wall. They were the ones making all the clanking noise. They were hardly built for stealth. Instead of looking again, Dahlia listened. She could hear at least three of them down there.

The rest of the complex had looked deserted; they had to be here for some reason. She hoped that reason was Mahad. As much as he annoyed her, she'd hated having to leave him. Now she was determined to find him.

She checked where the Brigs were again, and then moved along the wall, towards the stairs that led down to the bottom level. To get down them she'd have to move out into the open, but if she timed it right, she could do it when the Brigs weren't looking.

As she got to the end of the metal balcony, she checked below her again. She didn't want any surprises when she made a run for it.

There were no other Brigs. But she did catch sight of what looked like a simulator, and if she wasn't mistaken, it looked somewhat like the Hyperion. Something red caught her eye through the glass over the 'cockpit'. "Mahad…" she whispered. He wasn't in the chair, he was lying on the floor and it didn't look like he was moving.

Dahlia tried looking closer, but then suddenly realised she was almost leaning out into full view. She pressed quickly back against the wall and swore. The Brigs didn't make any sign of having seen here however. She needed to pay more attention.

She checked again, and when the Brigs moved out of sight, she walked quickly down the stairs as quietly as she could. At the bottom, she moved up behind the simulator Mahad was in. They wouldn't be able to see her here, but to get to Mahad she'd have to climb right on top of the simulator into full view. She couldn't really hope for them to miss her.

Dahlia growled. Mahad had better stay alright by himself for just a few more moments. She pulled out her radio and turned down the volume, then positioned herself where she thought the simulator would block the most sound from the Brigs. "Cortes, I've found Mahad."

The radio buzzed for a couple of seconds. "Is he alright?"

"I don't know. There are Brigs down here, and I can't get to him without them seeing me. But… he was on the ground and he wasn't moving."

"Okay… how many Brigs?"

"I've only seen three."

Dahlia heard Cortes growl on the other end. "That can't be all they've left here, unless…" he grumbled and cut himself off, but Dahlia could guess what he was thinking. "Look, where are you, maybe I can distract them and you can get to Mahad?"

"That might work." Dahlia quickly told him where she'd gone.

"Okay, I'll backtrack and come to where you are. Give me five minutes. 'Til then see if there's anything or anyone else waiting for us."

"Got it."

Dahlia shut off the radio and sighed. A quick check showed the three Brigs were still there. They weren't doing anything much. She looked back towards the top of the simulator again. Mahad would be less than a few feet beside and above her.

She sighed and gritted her teeth. She had to concentrate on the job at hand.

----

Cortes jogged down the corridor. He'd already checked these ones, but he was still aware that he had to be on his guard. At the moment getting to where Mahad was seemed a bit more urgent. He could be alert and still move quickly.

He followed Dahlia's directions and soon came to the room she had described. He didn't see any Brigs or Guardians along the way, and that only served to worry him. Dahlia had found Mahad, but if the Sphere had him captured, then they should have left a decent amount of Brigs or otherwise to guard him. The fact they hadn't made him think that Mahad didn't need guarding. A dead body couldn't run away.

He pushed back that thought for the moment, and moved towards the door. Peering over the balcony, he could just see three Brigs. He pressed back against the wall and located Dahlia.

She waved at him, and he nodded. She'd go get Mahad once the Brigs were distracted. Problem was he had to distract them so they were looking away from where Dahlia was. The stairs were too close to her and jumping off the balcony would result in a heavy landing that would likely get him shot before he could get back up and move.

He moved to the other end of the balcony, keeping his back against the wall. Right at the end, a few feet away was a metal crate. It effectively halved the distance he'd have to jump, and halved it again to the floor. Cortes checked on the Brigs, and then checked on Dahlia. This was as far away from her as he was going to be able to get.

He placed a hand on the end railing and swung himself over and down the few feet onto the metal crate.

The Brigs swung around at the sound of him landing.

"Intruder. Identify yourself," said one of the Brigs, pointing its weapon arm.

"Here's all the identification you'll need," Cortes growled, and fired his weapon. The blast hit the Brig in the shoulder, spinning it around and sending it crashing into one of the other Brigs.

The third one opened fire, but only ended up blasting scorch marks on the wall where Cortes had been a second before.

Cortes hit the floor and rolled, getting off two more shots before he ducked for cover behind some broken bits of machinery.

The two other Brigs had recovered, and joined in blasting where Cortes had gone.

Cortes waited for them to relent for a second, and then fired off a few more shots before ducking back down. He had them distracted enough for Dahlia to get to Mahad. Now he just had to get them before they got him.

Dahlia waited for Cortes to get the Brigs out of the way. Then she climbed up quickly to the top of the simulator. She was now in full view, but thanks to Cortes the Brigs were looking the other way. She pulled open the hatch, swung herself inside and pulled it shut again. It was best to leave everything so that it didn't look suspicious.

Then she was relatively safe again. And she was right next to Mahad. "Mahad…?"

For a moment, she feared the worst, but then she saw his hand move and grip around his boomerang. "I'm not letting you… get Lena…"

Dahlia knelt down beside him and grabbed his shoulder. "Mahad, it's me, Dahlia."

Mahad pushed himself up a bit and looked at her. "How'd you…"

"Doesn't matter now. We're going to get you out of here, okay?" She looked up out the window again. "Might have to wait until Cortes gets rid of those Brigs." She looked back at him as he slumped back against the rear seats. "You okay? What happened?"

"Diwan wanted to get Lena, she…" he trailed off. "I'm not sure what she was trying to do…"

"Lena said she heard you calling for help…"

Mahad looked at her weakly. "What? I thought I felt her when…" he trailed off again. "Did you find me because Lena heard me?"

"Yeah…"

"That's why Diwan… Diwan _wanted _ me to call for help. She wanted Lena to come here!"

"What?"

"She was trying to…" he looked away again. "She hurt me so Lena'd hear me…"

"What, what'd she do!?"

"Don't you get it? She's led you into a trap using me!"

Dahlia looked at him and Mahad looked away. "We've got to get out of here. Can you get up?"

"I don't know…"

Dahlia momentarily considered growling at him, but then thought it was probably best not to. She grabbed her radio. "Cortes, we have a problem."

"Give me a second…" Cortes growled. He looked at the wall, timed the last remaining Brig's shots, then swung up and blasted it right in the chest.

It shuddered and fell to the ground, inactive.

Cortes sighed and pulled out the radio to answer Dahlia.

The large metal simulator across the floor hissed open. "Nice shooting, Cortes. Little good it will do you though." Diwan sauntered from the simulator, followed by a half dozen Brigs.

Cortes gripped his gun reflexively, even as he realised it was no use against Diwan's Seijin powers. He lowered it back to his side.

"So… you came to rescue Mahad… exactly like I wanted you to. You don't think I'd just leave him alive for no reason?"

"Congratulations, then. You've caught yourself one pirate."

Diwan smiled at that, and then laughed. "Don't be a fool. My plans are larger than that."

She pulled out her own radio, keeping eye contact with Cortes as she lifted it and pushed down the talk button. "Brigs…" she ordered, "capture the Saint Nazaire. Kill everyone on board, but bring me Lena."

Cortes gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his gun.

"I think you'd better put that down now, Cortes."

Cortes growled and threw the weapon to the floor angrily. "My crew won't just let you capture the Saint Nazaire."

"No… I suspect they'll just die trying," Diwan smirked.


	6. Chapter 6

"Wayan!" Cheng shouted. "Sphere patrollers… dozens of them!"

"What?" Wayan checked his console. Sure enough, patrollers had appeared from nowhere, and more were coming out of the complex.

They each lined themselves up around the Saint Nazaire, forming a perimeter between them and the open sky.

"They've got us surrounded… I don't' think we can get out," Cheng added.

Wayan looked at his console again, then back at the complex in front of him. "Not on my watch…"

He powered up the engines and swung the Saint Nazaire up from the edge of the dock.

"Wayan… I don't think we can get out…"

"Saint Nazaire. You are surrounded. Surrender, or we will open fire," the radio buzzed.

"Wayan…" Lena added.

"We're not going out…" Wayan finally answered as he levelled the Saint Nazaire and steadied his hand on the throttle. "… we're going in." He pushed the throttle forward and the Saint Nazaire dove through the open dock and into the complex. Sphere weapons fire strafed the side of the building where the Saint Nazaire had been, but the ship was already inside and protected by the metal walls.

Some of the Sphere patrollers peeled off from the perimeter and followed the Saint Nazaire inside.

"Um… are we going to be able to fit through here?" Lena asked.

"Cheng?" Wayan asked.

"Ah… our sensors still aren't penetrating very far ahead. I can tell you if you need to stop, but as for giving directions…" he trailed off.

"Okay…" Wayan slowed the Saint Nazaire slightly as he came to a corner, swung around it, and then pulled the ship out into a more open area. He increased the speed and dodged towards another tunnel.

"Sphere ships are following us…" said Cheng. "They're more manoeuvrable in here too, they're catching up."

"I could use my powers to pull some of these tunnels in behind us…" suggested Lena.

"How long can you keep that up?" Wayan asked.

"I'm not sure…"

"Use the rear gun turret instead. Think you can shoot down a few ships?"

"Yeah, I'll try."

----

Dahlia peered out the window, and then ducked back down to the floor. "Diwan's there with more Brigs!"

"Yeah…"

"There were only three before. I think she's got Cortes cornered."

"Are we actually going to be able to get out of here?" Mahad asked.

"… let me think. We might be able to slip out of here… but I'm not sure after that. We're going to have to help Cortes."

Mahad pushed himself up and onto the back seats. "I'm sorry I got you into this…"

"It's not your fault… right now we've got to try and find a way out of here."

Mahad looked out the window from where he was sitting. "What about that?"

"What?" Dahlia asked, coming and sitting next to him so she could see what he was looking at.

"That…" Mahad pointed. "It's some sort of transport vehicle… they must've used it to move stuff around this place."

"It's worth a try, if it still works… we still have to get out of this without Diwan or the Brigs seeing us. Think you can get out without falling over anything?"

"Yeah… you might have to hold my hand but…" A slight grin played at the corners of Mahad's mouth.

Dahlia opened her mouth, but then realised he was probably right at any rate. He would just enjoy it. "Okay… okay, let's just get out of here." She helped Mahad up and made sure Diwan wasn't looking before popping open the hatch. "Don't make any noise…" she whispered.

----

Diwan and the Brigs still had their attention on Cortes.

Cortes saw the Hyperion simulator's hatch pop up out of the corner of his eye. He didn't look at it. Whatever Dahlia was doing, she was taking a risk.

"Why do you need Lena so badly anyway, Diwan? You've got plenty of kids in your Guardian School," he growled out the last two words.

"What, don't you approve of our Guardian School?"

"No, not really."

"If I'm not mistaken… you've got Lena on the pirate ship of yours. Or does she not count as a child when you can put her powers to good use?"

"I actually have two children on that ship. There's a reason I left them there."

"Yes… on the ship my patrollers are about to destroy. Quite protective of you, Cortes."

"They're part of the reason you won't get away with this."

"As are the children in our Guardian School. Even if I don't defeat you here, I think they'll make sure your pathetic rebellion never succeeds. Face it; you had your time twelve years ago. You were defeated. Now you only continue getting weaker, even as we get stronger."

Cortes tightened his hands into fists, but couldn't think of a response.

Diwan's radio buzzed. "What!?" She listened for a moment. "Then deal with it!" she shouted and shut it off. She turned back to Cortes. "Okay Cortes, I'll give you one last chance. It seems your crew are not being so cooperative in handing over your ship. Tell you what, get them to come quietly and we'll let you all go. Once we have Lena, of course." She tossed her radio at Cortes. It floated the rest of the way under the direction of her Seijin powers, and then stopped in front of him. "Contact them. _Now._" She nodded to the Brigs and they trained their weapons on him. "Trust me. This is in your best interests."

Cortes snatched the radio from the air.

----

"I got one!" Lena exclaimed.

A Sphere patroller spun out of control from the blast, and tumbled into a wall with a burst of flame.

The other patrollers dodged around it and kept coming.

"Good, keep it up," said Wayan. He pulled the Saint Nazaire into a dive. The ship plummeted down a wide shaft and then levelled out and sped away. The patrollers kept up easily

The radio buzzed. "Wayan, come in."

"Cortes? Where are you? We're in a bit of trouble here!"

"Don't worry, I know."

Cortes sounded calm, but Wayan could hear the anger underlying his voice. "What's going on?"

"It seems we've run into a well planned trap. Looks like there's only one way out."

"Yeah…?"

"Wayan… don't let those bastards catch you, alright?" The connection cut out.

"Cortes?!"

"There are more Sphere ships coming. Dead ahead!" said Cheng.

Wayan dodged down another tunnel, avoiding the Sphere ships ahead of him. The ships ahead and those behind folded in together, and kept following the Saint Nazaire.

"Wayan, we can't loose them in here…" said Cheng, "we're too big!"

"I know, I know… Lena, how're you going shooting them down?"

"I've got a few, and I think I'm getting better. But more just keep on coming."

"You said before you could pull in the tunnels behind us," said Cheng. "Maybe, instead of shooting the ships, take a shot at the walls. If we can find some structures in here that are loose or ready to break then they should be easy to shoot down."

"Okay…"

"Let's find something we can shoot then…" said Wayan, and pulled the Saint Nazaire into a more run down part of the complex. "How's this?"

Lena took a couple shots with the gun. One of the walls shuddered as the blasts impacted it, and then fell across the tunnel behind them, effectively cutting its size in half.

Two Sphere patrollers smashed directly into the fallen piece of metal, and three more overcorrected and crashed into the walls.

"Alright!" shouted Cheng. "Let's find some more stuff to shoot down!"

----

"Big mistake!" Diwan growled, glaring at Cortes. "Brigs, destroy him!"

"One last thing!" Cortes shouted.

Diwan raised a hand for the Brigs to stop. "What?! I'm losing patience…"

"Look behind you."

Diwan frowned. Cortes couldn't be stupid or desperate enough to try such a ridiculous trick. But then she noticed the light that glared up on Cortes and the wall behind him, followed by the growl of an engine.

"Take that!" Dahlia stamped her foot on the gas and the small transport vehicle swerved out into the open.

Seconds later the Brigs Dahlia had been aiming for scattered like skittles, propelled by the rubber bumper bar on the front of the vehicle. It was most likely designed to save damage in tight cargo holds, but now it served the purpose of causing damage much better.

The vehicle braked to a stop right beside Cortes. "Need a lift?" Dahlia asked.

"Thanks." Cortes swung himself into the back, scooping up the rifle he'd dropped on the way. "Now get us out of here."

"Yes, sir." Dahlia floored it again and the vehicle sped away.

Diwan pulled herself up from where she'd jumped to avoid being hit, and fired a blast after them. It missed. "Grr! Quit laying around!" she shouted at the Brigs, kicking the one nearest to her.

The few that were still functioning pulled themselves up.

"Bring me my ship! I'll catch them myself if I have to!"

----

Cortes checked behind them to make sure they weren't being immediately followed, before turning back to the front of the vehicle.

"Mahad, are you alright?"

"Yeah… Thanks for coming back."

"We weren't planning on leaving you behind."

"I hate to interrupt…" said Dahlia, "but where's the Saint Nazaire?" She brought their vehicle to a halt at the empty dock where the Saint Nazaire had landed.

"Diwan was trying to capture the ship. Wayan would've had to move." Cortes pulled out his radio. "Wayan, come in." It simply buzzed with static.

"Um… guys… Sphere!" Mahad pointed out the open dock. Two Sphere patrollers had just drifted into view. They seemed to see them suddenly, and spun around to face them.

"Woah!" Dahlia hit reverse and spun the vehicle around in a tight circle, taking out some empty energy cylinders stacked along the wall, before speeding back into the complex.

"You should've let me drive!" said Mahad.

"You said you didn't feel up to it!"

"Mahad!" shouted Cortes before they could continue, "Make yourself useful. Try contacting the Saint Nazaire." He tossed the radio. With his hands now free he stood up and turned around, balancing with his back against the rollbar of the vehicle. He powered up his rifle. Unfortunately, it wasn't really designed to take down a ship. It would have to suffice.

----

"I got some more down!" Lena exclaimed. Behind the ship metal crashed in, only a few Sphere ships managing to dodge the debris.

"Good," said Wayan. They were doing damage. But they still had to escape, and find Cortes, Mahad and Dahlia. Right now they were only being successful in running, and they had no idea how many Sphere ships were in the complex.

Then the radio came alive again.

"Hello… can anyone hear me?"

"Mahad!" exclaimed Lena. She left the gun and ran down next to Cheng.

"Mahad? Where are you?" Wayan asked.

"Ah… some corridor… running for our lives…"

"We're close enough to pick up the radio signal," said Cheng. "I'll be able to track it and give you their location… well… close to it anyway."

"Mahad? Are you alright? I heard you calling for help…" Lena said into the radio.

"Ah… you don't have to worry about me, Lena. I'm just fine."

"I've got them!" said Cheng. "Wayan, I think you need to take the next left. Then maybe go down a bit."

"Where are they, Cheng?" Wayan asked, having followed his directions.

"I can't pinpoint them exactly. The signal's a bit fuzzy. But I'm sure they're close."

----

"Wayan's coming with the Saint Nazaire!" Mahad shouted back to Cortes.

"Let's hope he hurries…" Cortes fired a few more shots at the patroller behind them. It shuddered slightly, but the blasts seemed to just be absorbed by the hull. It drew closer. Cortes could see the gun turrets under its nose lining up with their vehicle. He took aim and blasted them.

The patroller didn't fire. Its gun simply sparked and then hung limply from its control system.

"At least I can take out your teeth…"

Dahlia angled the vehicle around another corner.

"Go down there!" Mahad pointed to a smaller corridor that had just come into view.

Dahlia shot down it, almost running up the wall. A burst of weapons fire impacted the entrance behind them, a desperate shot from the undamaged patroller. It was unable to follow them.

"I think we lost them…" said Dahlia.

Their vehicle shot from the corridor and back into a wider area. There were no Sphere ships in sight.

Cortes leaned forward and took the radio off Mahad. "Wayan? Now would be a good time to pick us up."

"Hang on… we're nearly on your position; seems it's a bit hard to figure out exactly where you are. I think we're almost there."

Suddenly what looked like a mass of metal dropped from a shaft in the ceiling ahead of them. It slowed its descent meters from the floor, and then picked up speed, moving away from them. Cortes cringed at the tight manoeuvrer, before shouting back into the radio. "Wayan, we're behind you!"

"What? …right, I'll turn around ahead."

The Saint Nazaire pulled ahead then came to a stop where the corridor split both left and right, up and down. It started turning around carefully, the ramp dropping.

A blast of weapons fire impacted the wall near the Saint Nazaire.

Cortes whirled around. Diwan's modified S-22 had just dropped into the corridor behind them. It had a clear shot at them all the way between where they were and the Saint Nazaire. But her shot had missed. Cortes realised that probably had something to do with the fact that the Saint Nazaire would leave if it had no one to rescue.

It would also leave if he ordered Wayan to.

"That was a warning shot. I suggest you stop, the next one isn't missing." The message boomed out down the corridor. A loudspeaker was probably useful on the patroller, Cortes could imagine it being used to tell the residents of a block they were about to be obliterated for falling behind in water tax.

"Dahlia, stop…"

The vehicle skidded to a stop, spinning slightly from the sudden dampening of its speed.

"Cortes! We're sitting ducks!" exclaimed Mahad.

Dahlia glanced back at the ship. "We are anyway…"

Cortes ignored Mahad and pulled out his radio again. "Wayan, I think you'd better get out of here…"

The radio fizzled. "But…"

"That's an order!" He snapped the radio off.

The Saint Nazaire began to drop down the shaft it hovered above.

Diwan's S-22 shot after it, passing their vehicle, and fired at the Saint Nazaire. She was avoiding hitting anything critical.

"Wayan's going down… we can still get on board!" said Mahad. "Dahlia, let me drive!"

"What?!"

Mahad didn't wait for her to agree, and just pulled the steering column towards himself.

"Mahad!" Cortes growled.

"Trust me!" Mahad replied, and pushed the throttle straight to top speed.

Cortes grabbed the roll bar to prevent himself falling off from the sudden burst of acceleration, and looked ahead. They were still behind Diwan, and she probably couldn't see what they were doing. What it looked like Mahad planned to do was crazy. But knowing Mahad, he'd do it anyway. Cortes pulled out the radio again. "Wayan, if you can, I want you to slow down just a bit. And try and stay in that shaft you just dropped down."

"Sure thing… but why?"

Cortes sighed and gripped the roll bar even tighter. "Because I have a feeling Mahad is about to do something stupid."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n:** Yup, and this is the last chapter. Yup, I'm the same person from deviantart. Yup, I do get a very slight, small enjoyment from torturing Mahad. Hope you have enjoyed the fic:D

* * *

The pirate ship was proving to be a hassle to capture. But she would capture it. It seemed Cortes had once again undermined her plan. Probably thought it was noble to sacrifice himself and a couple of pirates for the cause. It would come to nothing. Lena was almost in her grasp. She just had to corner the pirate ship. 

In this maze, with all her ships, it was only a matter of time. She called any ships that would be able to hear her to her position. She ordered some more to other parts of the complex.

The advantage of it being a Sphere complex was that they had old schematics of its layout. She simply had to chase the Saint Nazaire down the right path.

And if she was lucky, the pirates would be foolish enough to hang around in the hope of picking their comrades up again.

It was at that moment that she saw the small vehicle overtake her ship and fly off the lip of the shaft ahead of her.

"What?!" she growled. Those things were not designed to fly, they were ground vehicles. She angled her ship down the shaft. The Saint Nazaire was still there. It had slowed. And now she could see why.

"Grr!" So they weren't planning on staying behind. It didn't matter.

Diwan lined up her weapons with the falling vehicle and fired. She couldn't do too much damage to the Saint Nazaire, but this annoyance was unimportant.

----

Mahad couldn't see where the Saint Nazaire was until he was off the edge. Luckily, it appeared he was above where he was aiming for, because there was no way to adjust the vehicle now they were airborne.

The forward deck of the Saint Nazaire seemed to rush up towards him. He fired the thrusters on the bottom of the vehicle. They were designed simply to lift it the few feet off the ground that would allow it to move, but anything that slowed their descent they needed.

The vehicle slammed into the forward deck of the Saint Nazaire, and bounced back up off the metal, skidding across it. The jerk sent Mahad's head reeling, and he realised he still wasn't exactly feeling in top shape as everything went black for a moment.

"Mahad?" prodded Dahlia. He seemed out of it, and she had to grab the magnetic brake to lock the vehicle to the deck surface before they skidded off anymore.

"Wayan! Move!" Cortes shouted into the radio.

The Saint Nazaire jerked forward, just as a blast from Diwan's ship hit the deck surface behind them, leaving a scorch mark and kicking up a hull plate.

Cortes winced; both because of the damage and the fact that had the Saint Nazaire not been moving, that would've been them.

"Ow…" said Mahad, rubbing his head. At least he could see again.

"Hang on…" Dahlia suggested.

"We need to get inside," said Cortes. "We're too out in the open up here."

Mahad groaned.

----

"Mahad!"

"Woah!" Mahad had to regain his balance as his little sister practically ploughed into him. "Careful…"

"How're we going, Wayan?" Cortes asked, taking his captain's chair.

"We've taken some damage, but we've given plenty back. There're a lot of Sphere patrollers outside, but I think we took out a good few of those in these tunnels."

"Good. We can't stay in here much longer. Take us back outside, we'll see how we fare our there."

"Yes, sir."

"Take the next left," Cheng suggested, "that looks like it'll get you out."

The Saint Nazaire swung to the left. Behind it, Diwan's patroller slowed, and then dodged up another shaft. It was joined by about three other patrollers. Another three followed behind the Saint Nazaire, but they didn't speed up to catch it, nor opened fire. They simply followed at a safe distance.

"Cortes… Diwan's patroller has stopped following us… but there's some other's there now… and… well, they're not attacking…" said Cheng.

Cortes frowned. "Are we nearly out?"

"Should be a couple hundred more feet…"

Up ahead, they could just start seeing the light from outside. And then the silhouettes of four Sphere patrollers flashed in front of it.

"Patrollers!" said Cheng, unnecessarily.

"Try and avoid them, Wayan…"

"There're no other tunnels off this one… and I can't go back…"

The three patrollers that had been following had crept up closer.

Cortes scowled. "Stop the ship."

The Saint Nazaire slowed to a stop, a short distance from the patrollers in front of them. The other three patrollers stopped a similar distance behind them.

"Can't we blast…" started Mahad.

"Not yet," Cortes growled, cutting him off. "There's a reason they haven't opened fire yet, and I want to know what it is…"

The screen flicked on beside Cortes. "Cortes, you and your crew have given us a lot of trouble today… but we have you cornered. Now, I suggest you surrender."

"And if I don't?"

"We'll open fire. Even if you make it past us, there're even more patrollers outside, waiting to finish you off. You'll never make it past them."

"If there're plenty of your ships to take us down outside, then why are you bothered to catch us in here?"

Diwan's pause was barely perceptible. "I thought I'd give you the option of surrendering. Before you came out guns blazing. Couldn't have you getting destroyed with Lena still on board, could we?"

That made sense. Almost.

"Dahlia, take the rear gun turret. Wayan, full speed ahead."

The Saint Nazaire pulled forward.

"I'm warning you, Cortes…"

"_I _ suggest, you stop giving warnings. Either act on them, or get out of the way!

----

The Saint Nazaire was heading towards her, and it wasn't stopping. "I said _stop_" she shouted uselessly. "Brigs, shoot them down!" But by the time she'd relayed the order, the larger ship was almost upon them.

Diwan hit reverse. Her patroller shot backwards down the tunnel. The Brigs, programmed to do as they were told, simply opened fire. They took a second longer to register that they're weapons were not going to stop the Saint Nazaire in time. By then, one had been hit by a blast from the ship's forward gun, sending it reeling into a wall in a ball of flame. The second tried to move out of the way, but its wing was clipped by the Saint Nazaire's hull, sending it scaping along the wall, caught between it and the larger ship.

Diwan just managed to pull her S-22 out into the open and out of the way as the Saint Nazaire careened past.

The three other patrollers followed behind it. One was hit by a blast from the ship's rear gun turret and spun out of control.

The Saint Nazaire kept moving, still picking up speed, heading straight away from the complex. No ships slowed its progress, because there were none left outside. They had all eventually chased after the Saint Nazaire inside the complex. Most of which, had then been destroyed. Diwan contacted the other ships. "Break off pursuit!" she growled. There was no point. And it wasn't worth returning with her whole squadron destroyed.

Diwan watched as the ship sped away, and started thinking what she was going to tell Oslo.

----

"You sure you're feeling alright, Mahad?" Lena asked her older brother.

The Saint Nazaire was safely on its way back to Puerto Angel. Diwan had broken off pursuit, and they'd seen no other signs of the Sphere. All they had to do now was swing past the block Mahad had left the Hyperion on, pick up his ship, and then head home.

And get repairs on the Saint Nazaire. No one had said much about that; Cortes hadn't seemed too happy about the damage they'd taken.

"Yeah, I told you, I'm fine."

"How come you were calling for help, then? I heard you… that's how we found you…"

"Yeah… well it's pretty scary being captured by the Sphere. That might be why. And why I wasn't going to let them get you. They wanted me to tell them where you were."

"But you didn't."

"'Course not."

Lena seemed to buy that. "I know you wouldn't."

"Mahad," Cortes called. "We're about to pick up the Hyperion. Do you want to help, or are you fine letting us do it?"

"Ah… you guys do it. I'm going to spend some time with Lena." He put his hand flat on his little sister's head and ruffled her hair.

"Hey!"

"Alright."

"Oh, and Cortes… can you try not to scratch it or anything?"

Cortes stopped in his tracks and looked like he was about to turn around and say something. Instead he just sighed in exasperation. "I wouldn't dream of it…" He headed off to go about picking up the ship, shaking his head.

"Mahad!" scolded Lena under her breath.

"What?"

----

Back on Puerto Angel, Mahad had gone practically straight back to his and Lena's house. It'd been a long day, or days. He was still getting his head around exactly _what _ day it was. But he was tired.

At least Lena had accepted that explanation. As well as the one he'd given earlier about him calling for help.

There was a knock at the door. "Hello…?" It was Dahlia's voice.

Mahad sighed, but smiled as he went over to open it. "Dahlia… what a surprise… imagine finding you at my door…" He leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms and just looking at her.

Dahlia groaned, and rolled her eyes. "Lena told me you'd said you were going to bed. I thought I'd better come and check that you're alright… in light of all the stuff that happened earlier."

"Well… I'm fine."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay… you going to let me in, or what?"

"Ah… yeah, okay…" Mahad stepped back from the door and Dahlia followed him in. They sat down at the table in the middle of the room.

"I should be rather flattered, actually…" Mahad began, "I didn't know you cared about me so much…"

Dahlia groaned again. "Okay, actually Cortes sent me to check on you."

"Oh…" Mahad leaned back in his chair and stretched a bit. "That's not so flattering…"

"But I do want to make sure you're okay…"

"I told you, I'm fine."

"But you still haven't told me – or anyone – exactly what happened."

"Do I need to?" Mahad half snapped. He seemed to realise how he'd reacted and looked down at the table. "Look… Diwan didn't do any damage. I think most of it was just her playing with my mind." He glanced back up at her then back down at the table.

"You were practically unconscious on the floor; she had to have more than messed with your mind…"

"Yeah… okay… so she… Seijin zapped me… or something, I don't know! She just wanted me to bring you guys running."

"Took her awhile…"

"Oh… okay, she wasn't trying to get me to call for help the whole time." He explained to Dahlia about the simulator. "She only started… getting me to call Lena when I'd figured it out."

Dahlia seemed to think for a moment. "But you didn't tell her anything. Like about Puerto Angel."

Mahad looked back up at her. "Did Cortes ask you to ask me that?"

"No. I'm asking you that."

"No. I didn't. She nearly got the location of Puerto Angel though… but I deleted if before she could."

"You sure?"

"Yes. If I hadn't, she wouldn't have bothered… getting you guys to come looking for me…"

"Okay."

Mahad sighed and looked down at the table.

"You sure you're alright?"

"Yes!"

"You keep saying that, but you can't even say that Diwan practically tortured you!"

"Of course I can't! Because I don't want to talk about it and I don't need an interrogation! I just want to go to bed, alright!"

Dahlia just stared at Mahad's outburst until he looked away.

"Mahad…"

"What?"

"Look… I'm sorry. I just want to make sure…"

"… that I'm okay. Yeah, I know." Mahad stared at the table again before continuing. "Okay, so maybe I'm not quite alright. But I didn't let anything happen to Puerto Angel. Or Lena. That's what really counts."

"And you don't?"

Mahad shrugged. "I'll sleep it off. If you'll let me."

Dahlia sighed. "Alright, alright. I didn't mean to keep you up. Get some sleep." She got up from the table to leave.

Mahad got up with her. "Dahlia…" he came around the table and nearly ended up walking into her. "Um…" said Mahad, inches away from her nose. "Thanks for checking anyway…"

Dahlia looked back at him for a moment, and then just smiled. "Don't let it go to your head…" She touched him lightly on the shoulder. "Night. I can let myself out."

"Okay."

Mahad just watched her leave and then rubbed his eyes. He was even more tired now. He was sure he'd be fine anyway. He was lucky, he'd been rescued. Maybe he wouldn't be so lucky next time. But he would never let the Sphere find Puerto Angel and he certainly wouldn't let them get their hands on Lena. No matter what it cost.

Mahad stretched again and yawned, before heading up to bed. He really needed to sleep.


End file.
